title: Growth of copper sulfide dendrites and nanowires from elemental sulfur on TEM Cu grids under ambient conditions.
abstract: Copper sulfide dendrites and subsequent uniform nanowires up to tens of micrometers long can be grown on carbon-coated transmission electron microscopy (TEM) Cu grids from elemental sulfur at room temperature under ambient conditions without any solvent and surfactants. TEM and high-resolution TEM studies demonstrated the morphology evolution of Cu₂S from dendrites into ultra-long nanowires with increasing ageing time. The sulfur species influenced significantly the growth rate of Cu₂S dendrites and nanowires, but the final morphology remained the same. The native oxide on the surface of Cu grids played a critical role in the formation of Cu₂S dendrites and nanowires. The crystal structures and phase purity of Cu₂S samples were confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX). A solid-liquid-solid growth model may be considered a potential mechanism in Cu₂S morphology evolution on the basis of the experimental results. Most importantly, the present study provides a simple and environmentally friendly route for the growth of one-dimensional (1D) Cu₂S on Cu substrate.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Soft Chemistry and Functional Materials of Ministry Education, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, People's Republic of China. qiaofenghan@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Qiaofeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jiansheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry*; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D012997:Solvents; D013440:Sulfides; C099343:cuprous sulfide; D013455:Sulfur; D003300:Copper